By Adedapo Adesanya
The global streaming platform, Netflix, has appointed the Group Executive Chairman and founder of Econet, Mr Strive Masiyiwa, to its board.
The appointment has made Mr Masiyiwa the first-ever African to join the board of directors of the company.
Mr Masiyiwa is Zimbabwe’s richest businessman with an estimated net worth of $1 billion and leads mobile telecom giant Econet Global’s operations in over 20 countries across Africa and Europe.
Currently serving on several international boards including the Global Advisory boards of Bank of America and Stanford University as well as chairing the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa, the Zimbabwean telecommunication mogul brings with him a wealth of managerial experience to the Netflix directorate.
Speaking on his appointment, Netflix Chairman and co-CEO, Mr Reeds Hastings, said, “We are delighted to welcome Strive to the Netflix board. His entrepreneurship and vision in building businesses across Africa and beyond will bring valuable insights and experience to our board as we work to improve and serve more members all around the world.”
His appointment comes a week after Ms Susan Rice, former US ambassador to the United Nations, disclosed she would be quitting her role on the Netflix board to join US President-elect, Mr Joe Biden’s administration in January 2021.
He also remains the only African member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Committee on Conscience.
Born in Zimbabwe, Mr Masiyiwa had his higher education at Edinburgh, Scotland before obtaining an Electrical Engineering degree at the University of Wales in 1983.
After working for about a year in the ICT industry at Cambridge, he returned to Zimbabwe in 1984 to work as a telecoms engineer for the country’s telephone company.
He later quit his job and founded his own telecom company, Econet Wireless in 1993. But Mr Masiyiwa’s Econet could not secure an operating licence until 1998 when it finally ended telecom monopoly in Zimbabwe after a five-year legal battle with the late Robert Mugabe-led administration.
In the same year, the telecoms tycoon listed Econet on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, making it a publicly-traded company. Since then, he has remained at the helm of affairs of Econet Group. He also owns a 50 per cent stake in Africa’s largest fibre optics business, Liquid Telecom.
Speaking on his appointment, he said, “Netflix is at the forefront of bringing great entertainment from anywhere in the world to everyone in the world, and I look forward to working with the board and all stakeholders to continue its traditions of innovation and growth.”
Globally recognised as one of Africa’s most prolific philanthropists, Mr Masiyiwa donated $10 million earlier this year in funding and support to over 1,700 healthcare workers to aid the response against COVID-19.
Modupe Gbadeyanka 
Aduragbemi Omiyale